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Standby buttons face axe to curb energy waste

FOR couch potatoes, life will never be the same again. Ministers want to do away with the standby buttons that allow them to flick their TVs and other electronic gadgets on and off while moving barely a muscle.

Over more than 30 years, standby buttons and remote controls have transformed the lives of determined slobs. But now global warming, and fears of energy shortages, could put paid to that.

The government’s long-awaited energy review, to be published this week, will signal a clampdown on the wasting of energy in the home, alongside measures to develop new nuclear power stations and more use of alternative energy.

Officials drawing up the report have discovered that heating, lighting and entertainment in households is responsible for 27% of the energy used in Britain, and that a sixth of this is accounted for by electronic gadgets. But with purchases of low-price TVs, DVDs, computers and